EV charging is now almost as fast as pumping gas.

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has revealed new fast-charging tech that can add 400km (249 miles) of range from a five minute charge. With the announcement, BYD has also promised to make a major investment in charging infrastructure, building over 4,000 of the new fast chargers across China.

The “Super e-Platform” tech is capable of charging at peak speeds of 1,000kW, double the fastest Tesla V4 superchargers, which will peak at 500kW when they roll out this year. The faster charging tech is initially available in two new vehicles, the Han L sedan and Tang L SUV, which start at 270,000 yuan (around $37,330).

“In order to completely solve our users’ charging anxiety, we have been pursuing a goal to make the charging time of electric vehicles as short as the refuelling time of petrol vehicles,” BYD founder Wang Chuanfu said from a Shenzhen launch event. “This is the first time in the industry that the unit of megawatt has been achieved on charging power.”

  • Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee
    2·
    18 hours ago

    Oh, yeah, I understood that - it was the fact that this is for the everyday “consumer” (for consumers) tech that inspired the comment, that regular folk will get up & personal with such tech soon & make it a regular mundane chore.

    I could think about how much electricity an electric plant produces (& couldn’t comprehend it in daily terms that would make sense), but sitting in a charging car you get a much clearer picture of what that means, of how much energy (and “how much driving”) is running through that cable every second, etc.